What the Tims/BK deal really means — and what it cost us
As we saw with Tim Hudak’s ‘Million Jobs’ fantasy, claims about the benefits of corporate tax cuts can sometimes stretch into the realm of hallucination.
We’ve now reached a new level of silliness in public discourse about taxes with Finance Minister Joe Oliver’s suggestion that Burger King’s $11 billion takeover of Tim Hortons somehow illustrates the benefits of Canada’s low corporate tax rates.
One might be left with the impression that the corporate creator of the Whopper plans to invest a whopping $11 billion in Canada. Now there’s a whopper for you — but it’s not inside a bun.
The truth is that the Burger King-Tim Hortons deal is just a paper transaction that, apart from enriching some stockholders, likely will provide zero benefit for Canada, in terms of job creation or additional revenue for the public purse.
Of course, we can look forward to the multi-billion-dollar Burger King moving its head office to Canada — or rather, we can look forward to Burger King opening up a post office box here. Its operational headquarters — where decisions are actually made and people gainfully employed — will remain in Miami.
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/09/03/what-the-timsbk-deal-really-means-and-what-it-cost-us/
No comments:
Post a Comment